Alex Trebek’s widow, Jean Trebek, is commemorating the third anniversary of his death by launching a Stand Up To Cancer fund in his honor.
“He was very grateful. He was a man that moved through life with gratitude,” Jean, 60, said of her late husband in a video announcing The Alex Trebek Fund posted on Tuesday, October 31. The fund — which launched in time for November’s Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month — will help support pancreatic cancer research and awareness.
“When Alex was diagnosed, we had never thought in a million years it was stage IV pancreatic cancer,” Jean continued. “I thought it would be a great idea to set up this fund at Stand Up To Cancer. And since he was all about the right answer, I think it’s very fitting that this fund is now established in his name, and hopefully it will benefit thousands and thousands of people.”
Alex died at the age of 80 on November 8, 2020, one year after he announced his diagnosis with stage IV pancreatic cancer in March 2019. At the time of his diagnosis, the Jeopardy! host said he planned to “beat the low survival statistics for this disease.”
Jean broke her silence on her husband’s death days later via Instagram. “My family and I sincerely thank you all for your compassionate messages and generosity,” she wrote alongside a photo from their 1990 wedding. “Your expressions have truly touched our hearts. Thank you so very, very much.” The two shared two kids, son Matthew, 33, and daughter Emily, 30. (Alex also shared his daughter Nicky with his ex-wife, Elaine Callei Trebek.)
During an appearance on Today on Wednesday, Jean noted that the fund is something Alex “actually would champion,” adding, “He loved a good challenge. He was very curious. He loved to know the answers, both at Jeopardy! and at home. And I think this really coincides with his character, his spirit of helping others and finding the right answers.”
The fund was set up in part with Stand Up To Cancer cofounder Katie Couric. On Today, she told host Savannah Guthrie that she and Jean became friends after she offered her support to her following Alex’s death. “We started talking about Alex’s legacy and how we could honor him, and that’s when the idea of this fund came about,” Couric, 66, shared.
Jean previously opened up to Guthrie, 51, about experiencing “waves of grief” after Alex died in the April 2021 NBC News special Inspiring America: The 2021 Inspiration List. “I think one of the beautiful things, the blessings that came, if you can call it a blessing, was that [Alex] got to really see the outpouring of love and admiration that he gave to the world,” Jean stated. “And I know that that was in and of itself a huge inspiration for Alex.”
Later that year, Alex’s Jeopardy! host successors Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings honored the TV personality on the first anniversary of his death. “Remembering the passing of the great Alex Trebek a year ago today,” Bialik, 47, tweeted in November 2021. “Alex was a legendary entertainer, philanthropist, and lover of life. We miss you, Alex.”
Jennings, 49, for his part, stated that he missed Alex “a lot” in a heartfelt video message shared via the game show’s X (formerly Twitter) page. “Alex’s wife Jean had given me a pair of his cufflinks that he had worn on the show. She thought about Jeopardy! and she thought about me, a person she had never met,” he revealed. “My Alex Trebek cufflinks are the only cufflinks I own. They are kind of a good luck charm for me here.”
